Thoughts, comments and observations about the Chicago White Sox from the Communications Department.

June 2010

1910: With fellow pitcher Doc White making a rare start in centerfield, Ed Walsh fired the fourth one-hit shutout of his career in a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox at the 39th Street Grounds.

FABER’S HOMER DOES IT1923: Red Faber’s first career homer gave him the lead for good in the White Sox 4-1 win over the Yankees in New York.

A DAY OFF TO HOPE AND PRAY1944: All Major League games were cancelled as the country turned its attention to Europe where allied forces invaded occupied France.

OVERTAKING THE LEGEND1960: Minnie Minoso’s two-run single in the eighth put the Sox ahead in a stunning 3-2 win over Whitey Ford and the Yankees in New York.

AGEE COMES THROUGH1967: Tommie Agee’s two-run single in the seventh scored Al Weis and Ed Stroud to break a 3-3 tie in the White Sox 5-3 win over Boston before 10,463 at Comiskey Park.

JAY STONES TIGERS1971: Jay Johnstone hit two home runs – including a three-run blast in a five-run first – as the White Sox topped the Tigers 8-2 before 25,356 at Comiskey Park.

BANNY AND THREE BOMBS1979: Lamar Johnson, Milt May and Eric Soderholm homered in leading the White Sox to an 8-5 win at Boston.

TOM TERRIFIC VS. ANGELS1984: Tom Seaver recorded his 58th career shutout, a four-hit masterpiece, in a 4-0 win over the Angels before 20,995 at Comiskey Park.

KITTY THE DIFFERENCE1985: Ron Kittle broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run homer in the sixth to lift the White Sox to a 4-3 win at Texas.

LET’S BE FRANK: HE’S DRAFTED1989: The White Sox used their first round pick on Frank Thomas thus beginning one of the most productive careers in franchise history. The first baseman out of Auburn was the seventh overall pick of the draft.

SOX SQUEEZE PAST CLEVELAND1991: Robin Ventura’s squeeze bunt scored Tim Raines with the go-ahead run in the 10th in the White Sox 2-1 win at Cleveland.

TRIPLING THEIR FUN1996: The White Sox turned their first triple play since June 15, 1986 in a 7-4 loss at Boston. The triple play came in the first inning with Joe Magrane on the mound and Mo Vaughn on second, Jose Canseco on first and Tim Naehring at bat. Naehring hit a grounder to Robin Ventura, who started the 5-4-3 triple play. Boston’s John Valentin hit for the cycle, marking only the second time in history a triple play and a cycle occurred in the same game.

Spent today at … ahem, Wrigley Field (actually, it was outside Wrigley Field so I don’t count it) attending the Blogs With Balls 3 conference. Heard some interesting opinions and, as always, met some great people and re-connected with several friends. Truly enjoyed being on the panel about the Democratization of Sports and hope the attendees felt like our panel provided some info, ideas and made them think.

Thanks to the organizers for inviting me.

The Draft

Then it was on to the draft room here at the ballpark for a 4 pm meeting where Doug Laumann, our scouting director, walked KW and Rick Hahn (and many of our other top scouts) though our potential first-round picks for Monday. MLB Network’s cameras were in the room, so viewers of “The Club” will have a chance to see just how draft decisions are made inside a major league club’s draft warroom.

And then to my office

For the first time today, so it’s the first chance I have to write about the loss of John Wooden, UCLA basketball coach, but more importantly, a teacher. Although I never had the opportunity to meet Coach Wooden, I’ve enjoyed his books and listening to some of his talks/speeches, one like this one from TED (a great website by the way).

June 20, 2003 – Olivo Slams Cubs – White Sox 12, Cubs 3The White Sox opened the three-game set in dramatic fashion, scoring six runs in the first inning en route to a 12-3 victory. The win was the most lopsided victory in the history of the crosstown series. Sox starter Jon Garland delivered his sixth quality start in seven outings, and Sox matched their season high in runs scored. Miguel Olivo hit his first career grand slam (career high four RBI) off Cubs starter Shawn Estes in the first inning while Aaron Rowand went 3-4 with three RBI and MagglioOrdonez and Frank Thomas each scored three runs.

April 17, 1994 – All About Jordan – White Sox 4, Cubs 4The White Sox and Cubs battled to a 4-4 tie in an exhibition game at Wrigley Field, but the story was Michel Jordan, who started in right field for the Sox less than one year after claiming a third NBA title for the Chicago Bulls. “His Airness” went 2-5 and drove in two runs before a crowd of 37,825.

OX STOP YANKS SHORT1924: Eddie Collins and Earl Sheely each drove in two runs as the White Sox and Ted Lyons held on for a 4-3 win over the Yankees and Babe Ruth before 9,000 at Comiskey Park.

A GREAT WIN, A GREAT PERFORMANCE, A GREAT GAME1957: Billy Pierce pitched 10 sparkling innings of two-hit ball and was rewarded with a victory in the White Sox 1-0 win over Boston before 38,490 at Comiskey Park.

JOHN TOUGH ON KC1967: Tommy John retired the last 15 batters he faced as the White Sox defeated the Kansas City Athletics 2-0 in the first game of a doubleheader before 30,522 at Comiskey Park.

BROOMING THE BRONX BOMBERS1972: Dick Allen’s three-run, pinch-hit, walkoff homer handed the White Sox a sweep-clinching 5-4 win over the Yankees in Game 2 of a doubleheader before a Bat Day crowd of 51,904 at Comiskey Park. The blast made a winner out of Cy Acosta, who pitched a scoreless top of the ninth in his big league debut. In the opener, the Sox rode a four-run third — thanks to two-RBI each by Mike Andrews and Carlos May — to a 6-1 win. Tom Bradley gave up one run on six hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in a complete game effort to improve to 6-2.

ALLEN SLAMS YANKS1974: Dick Allen’s grand slam in the fifth inning gave the White Sox the lead for good in a 9-2 win over the New York Yankees before 14,351 at Comiskey Park. Bucky Dent also homered

ZISK’S LANDS ONE ON THE ROOF1977: Richie Zisk hit his first and only Comiskey Park roof-shot home run in an 8-6 loss to the New York Yankees before 35,789 on the Southside. Zisk’s blast — his 15th of the year — came off the New York Yankees’ Don Gullett in the second inning.

HANGING ON1984: The White Sox grabbed an early lead on RBI by Greg Luzinski and Harold Baines and a two-run homer by Rudy Law and then held off the Angels before 25,779 at Comiskey Park.

REDUS: WALKOFF SLAM1988: In one of the most dramatic games in recent memory, the White Sox scored six in the ninth with the last four coming on Gary Redus’ grand slam to beat the Texas Rangers 10-8 before 17,101 at Comiskey Park.

WELCOME ALEX1990: The White Sox used the fourth overall pick of the draft to select pitcher Alex Fernandez out of Miami-Dade South Community College. Less than two months later, Fernandez made his Major League debut.

BLACK JACK DEALING VS. TRIBE1991: Jack McDowell limited he Indians to four hits in the White Sox 4-1 win over the Indians in Cleveland.

PACO … A GRAND SLAM1994: Norberto “Paco” Martin broke open a close game with a ninth-inning grand slam as the White Sox pulled away from the Orioles for a 7-1 win in Baltimore.

BIG HURT LEADS THE WAY2004: Frank Thomas’ two-run homer in the fourth inning put the Sox on top for good in a 4-2 win at Seattle.

SOX SURVIVE VS. YANKS2007: Bobby Jenks retired Derek Jeter, who represented the tying run, to nail down the White Sox 6-4 win over the Yankees before 32,703 at U.S. Cellular Field.

FUN IN THE 15TH!2008: Paul Konerko’s homer in the 15th inning finally delivered the first place White Sox a 6-4 win over the Royals before 23,515 at U.S. Cellular Field. Earlier in the game, Jim Thome cranked a 464-foot homer which was the ninth-longest ever at U.S. Cellular Field and the first to land on the park’s center-field concourse.

A: I tweeted that this morning … that was very classy, I think it’s very professional and I think the way Galarraga…Detroit fans handled it was outstanding. What probably could have been one of the ugliest parts of the game became one of the best ones. What they did was very classy. I don’t know why bad things happen to good people. This guy, I love him more now. I have more respect for that umpire now than I’ve ever had, that was very classy. He took it like a man, maybe someone else would have a day off, won’t show up, show their face, won’t want to talk, this guy was very classy.

The Detroit Tigers were classy. They turned the page in less than 24 hours. Obviously last night’s game everybody was upset, everyone was sad. The guy that feels the worst — and there is no doubt in my mind — is the umpire. I tweeted this morning about it, it’s something you really like to see in baseball, and in every sport, this is a family game. We have to learn from that. People make mistakes. One thing about it , they turn the page, move on, and continue to work. It was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. There are a few things that put tears in my eyes, only a few things, and I saw that this morning and had a few tears in my eyes when I saw it.

Q: Do you know Jim Joyce?

A: Awesome guy, I know him from Triple-A. That’s what I said last night, why him? Why couldn’t it have happened to someone we could hate for the rest of their life. Why it have to be my man? It was a sad moment, especially in my country, we all wanted that, our country suffered by that ,but we learned something, how to get it done and move on right away. Galarraga did a tremendous job, Jim Leyland was outstanding, every player from the Detroit Tigers, I tip my hat to them.

Q: What was it like having Ken Griffey?

A: It was great for us, believe me. He was a class act; he owes Don Cooper a guitar though. Griffey now you’re retired you have time to buy a guitar for Coop. Class act man, very, very professional with me. I don’t care what he did with another team in the past, with me he went by the rules and played hard for us. The teammates loved him, I do, and he had a great career, maybe one of the best ever to play the game. God Bless him now, he’s going to take care of his kid, live a normal life, I don’t know how he’s going to handle it. I think he was a great man for baseball.

Q: With the perfect games, we seem to be seeing more low scoring games, is pitching coming back?

A: No more juice. (Laughing), maybe, ya never know. Believe me, I think pitching has been great. There is a lot of good, good, good pitching out there. Look at the kid from Colorado, Jimenez, it doesn’t surprise me those guys are doing that. Right now, I think the pitching is a lot better. You can sign a kid a couple days ago, and he’s in the big leagues the next week. I think right now, baseball goes after pitchers, first round picks, second round picks, biggest drafts, pitchers. I said that three years ago, this game is going to be back to pitching, defense, and speed. When you throw a perfect game, a no- hitter, your defense has to be good. Look at Halladay, the play by Castro, that’s not an easy play. I think the people have to blame Cabrera for the perfect game, he was playing second base (laughing)! If someone’s throwing a perfect game, and I’m playing the position, I don’t want the ball hit to me. Cabrera wanted the ball! He went way out there to make the play. Defense and pitching is why hitters suffer right now, I’ve never seen that many players in June hitting .200 and .190s and .210’s, even good players. I think a lot of teams know they can’t win without pitching.

Q: After the two tough losses here, have you talked to the team at all?

A: I talked to them last night a little bit. How we feel about this ball club. I want to get feedback from the club. I was telling them how I feel about them, and I still believe in them, I still believe we have a good one. I finished up by saying maybe it’s not the clubhouse, it’s the coaching room. If you look around this ballclub and release any of these players, they will get picked up by someone. You take anyone out there they will have a job the next day, a couple of days later. I just want them to know I still believe in them, I want them to know, they can go out and race for two months. I want to let them know we’ve gotta attack people; we’ve got to pitch better.

I told them why we’re in last place. Period. Only two reasons, when you’re last in hitting and 2nd to last in pitching, you don’t deserve to be in first. It’s the reason we’re in last. You’re not hitting, you’re not pitching, you’re in last place, or wherever we are. You aren’t going to compete like that. I let them know we still have time to recover, we still have time to gain some ground, but I can’t do it. I’ll try to help, but it’s in their hands. I always say you’re not a good manager, the only way you’re a good manager is if you get the best out of your players. Right now I’m not a good manager. I don’t take the most out of them. A lot of them were blaming themselves; maybe I’m not taking everything out of you guys … No one said anything, but I think when your team plays like that, your coach plays like that, you put doubts in yourself. It’s like when you’re a teacher, and 80% of your class doesn’t pass, are you teaching the right thing? Are you doing the right thing? It’s the same with me.

Q: What do you think about chemistry in the clubhouse?

A: Chemistry is always over rated. Always. The only team that has chemistry, and you always hear it, is when they are in first place. You don’t see any team finish in last place, and say, ‘wow,’ we have great chemistry, we lost 100 games.’ I told you I remember saying in spring training, if we love each other the same way we love each other right now, we’re in first place. When teams win, everyone loves each other. When they lose … that’s not just the White Sox, it’s every baseball team, the players talking bad about the managers, manager talking bad about the players, coaches fighting. Coaches get fired, all that stuff when you have a bad team. Fans hate you, your family hates you. There are so many negative things going through your life. I say that because I went through it. I played for a lot of really, really bad teams. I played with good teams. I played with more bad ones than good ones. I coached bad teams, and I don’t think this team is bad. We just don’t play the way we think we should be playing. I keep saying that, if we finish last, and lose 100 games, I’ll continue to say this ballclub is better than what we show. I told them last night, if you don’t believe in yourself, I do. Because when Kenny asked me about it, I said right in his face, we should win with this ballclub and compete with this ballclub.

Carlos Lee Crushes Cubs – White Sox 10, Cubs 7Carlos Lee homered twice, posting his fourth career grand slam and a career-high seven RBI. Four White Sox relievers limited the Cubs to one run on two hits over the final 6.0 IP and Keith Foulke earned his first win of the year.

BIG ED DOES IT ALL1910: Ed Walsh drove in two runs, scored one, had the Sox only hit and was the winning pitcher in a 3-1 win over New York.

SCHALK AND KAMM GET IT DONE1923: Ray Schalk and Willie Kamm combined to drive in five runs in the White Sox 7-1 win over St. Louis at Comiskey Park.

NO. 3,000 FOR COLLINS1925: Future Hall of Famer Eddie Collins notched the 3,000th hit of his career – a single — off Detroit’s Rip Collins in the Sox 12-7 win at Tiger Stadium.

PIERCE IS FIERCE1959: Billy Pierce played stopper as the White Sox halted a three-game losing streak with a 6-1 win over the Orioles before 3,607 fans at Comiskey Park.

JOEL TOUGH1964: Joel Horlen drove in a run and carried a shutout into the ninth before getting relief help from Don Mossi and Hoyt Wilhelm in the Sox 3-0 win at Cleveland.

JERRY VERY GOOD1983: Jerry Koosman fired a complete-game three-hitter in the White Sox 2-0 win over the Kansas City Royals before 19,533 at Comiskey Park.

WELCOME THIGGY1985: The White Sox selected Mississippi State pitcher Bobby Thigpen in the fourth round of the amateur draft.

ROBIN, FRANK POWER SOX TO VICTORY1994: Home runs in the fourth inning by Frank Thomas and Robin Ventura carried the first-place White Sox to a 4-2 win over the Orioles at Baltimore.

MARTINEZ: WALKOFF SLAM1995: Dave Martinez’s walkoff grand slam powered the White to one of their most dramatic victories of the season in a 10-6 triumph of the Detroit Tigers before 27,220 at Comiskey Park.

PAULIE CAPS A BIG RALLY2001: Paul Konerko’s “walk off” home run in the 10th inning lifted the White Sox to an emotional 9-6 come-from-behind win over the Detroit Tigers before 19,446 at Comiskey Park.

SOX TURN ON THE POWER2008: Carlos Quentin ignited a home run barrage with a two-run shot in the first as the White Sox cruised past Kansas City 9-5 before 21,727 at U.S. Cellular Field. Quentin’s homer was one of four the Sox would hit off Zach Greinke. A.J. Pierzynski launched a two-run homer in the second while Nick Swisher and Alexei Ramirez added solo shots in the sixth to help Gavin Floyd earn his sixth win.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.